Papa's Fine Chocolates

1915: Great Grandfather James V. Glade left the mining industry, as World War One broke out, with an 8th grade education and a great talent for drawing. He had 35 cents in his pocket and a 750 pound barrel of corn syrup.

A mishap almost spelled the doom of Glade's Fine Candies before it had even begun. The 750 pound barrel got away from my Great Grandfather as he was taking it home and he had to chase after it, catching it after it had plowed down a neighbor's fence. He did manage to roll the barrel onto the back porch and into his kitchen without losing its precious cargo. Had the barrel broken, there may never have been a Glade's Fine Candies.

1922: James opened his first factory on 13th East in Salt Lake City. After a few years of filling hundreds of orders from neighborhood grocery stores all over the Salt Lake Valley, all delivered by way of bicycle, J.V. Glade incorporated and opened the Glade Candy Co. factory. The Glade Candy Co. factory employed several Glade family members and eventually employed over 150 employees in the production of many varieties of fine candies.

1935: Glade's survives the Great Depression, saving the factory by mounting a vigorous door-to-door sales campaign year-round for 4 Years, covering the east side of the Salt Lake valley daily. Glade's marketed their Peppermint Salt Water Taffy as a stomach remedy.

1952: J.V. Glade Sr., J.V. Glade Jr., Sam Mancusso, and Gardner Beach shook hands on the first factory order of 8 train carloads of chocolate in Coronado, California at the annual West Coast Chocolate Convention. Thus began mass production of Glade's Fine Chocolates.

Late 1980s: My grandfather, J.V. Glade Jr., retired from the confectionery business, taking with him his formulas and recipes. The factory ceased all confections and chocolate production, switching entirely to Salt Water Taffy production. They renamed the family business to Taffy Town. Taffy Town continues to flourish to this day, shipping millions of pounds of taffy worldwide.

1993: Robert Matthews, Grandson Of J.V. Glade Jr., began working with his Grandfather to bring back and preserve the favorite family confectionery formulas he had loved as a child. Robert worked diligently to refine and perfect his confectionery skills, honing his skills for two decades. Finally, Robert had products worthy of selling.

2011: Robert Matthews, with his brother Marcus, opened Chugach Chocolates in Girdwood Alaska. Chugach is still producing confections with a limited menu.

2012: Robert returned to his hometown of Bear Lake, opening Papa's Fine Chocolates, apying tribute to his Grandfather and sharing his family legacy of fine chocolate & candies that his family has loved for years.

Papa's Donates 1,000 pounds of confections annually to the local community and to the troops defending our freedoms overseas. Papa was indeed a fine example to all those he encountered. We Strive every day to live up to Papa's example and to fulfill our potential as Papa would have expected.

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A LITTLE HISTORY OF PAPA'S FINE CHOCOLATES IN MONTPELIER